I Really Do
by Dreamer1920
Summary: Words can be hurtful. But they can also stop a shutdown. (Plankton and Karen One-Shot).


**Hello, guys! This is a little something that came to me recently, while I was dealing with some personal issues. This Plankaren story is dedicated to one of my dearest friends (and an amazing writer) Spades And Swords.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own SpongeBob SquarePants or any of its characters.**

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**I Really Do**

Another day in Bikini Bottom meant another failed attempt at stealing the Krabby Patty secret formula.

In fact, it hadn't been just _one _day for Plankton – it had been an entire week's worth of failures to get that recipe away from his greedy crustaceous nemesis.

The fact that the crab was so smug about the evil genius always being the one to lose the battle only swung at Plankton's pride and knocked it down like a falling building. It had been going on for so many years, and it had been chipping away at his ego relentlessly.

There were so many times where it felt as though he had had enough and was extremely furious about the matter, but the beginning of this particular week was different. Different in such a way that the sea creature felt the heaviest, most blood-boiling rage like he hadn't felt before due to Krabs' attitude and the unfairness of it all. He hadn't even imagined that he _could _feel anger so deep and so ready to take itself out on anything that it could, even on something – or rather, _someone_ – who had always been there for him.

It had finally gotten to the point where, after being publicly humiliated for seven days straight and losing hours of sleep, Plankton lost the usual spark of wicked creativity and, instead of cooking up another complicated scheme that involved the aid of science, he marched straight into Krabs's office and demanded that formula with the slamming of his tiny palms on the desk.

Plankton, knowing in the end that throwing threats and demands at his rival was the most foolish thing to do on the planet, stormed away from the Krusty Krab after a screaming match with said rival. However, stomping out was not the only way that he released his pent-up exasperation.

One could say that he had _planned_ to relieve his burning agony by destroying everything he could inside his own restaurant. But fits of rage do not usually involve careful organization. At least, not too far in advance.

The microscopic organism, even with his very limited strength and lack of depth perception, was able to turn the Chum Bucket into more of a wasteland than it already was. Lights getting broken in the ceiling by him chucking tools at it, massive holes in the walls caused by him beating them in with an old robotic hand he invented, pots and pans were thrown all over the kitchen, along with a kettle of chum dumped flat on the floor. Not to mention blackened marks on the exit from one of his 'death lasers', and the splitting in half of his own mattress through the bedroom wall with said laser.

In his foggy mind that was a nightmarish world of fury, he hadn't the slightest clue that the certain _someone _who was always there for him was watching the entire thing happen from behind the slightly opened bedroom door. Luckily, she wasn't in the way when that green beam of light shot through the wall. Neptune only knew what that could've done to her circuits.

Through Plankton's eye, this temper tantrum was completely justified. It wasn't fair the way the universe treated him; his business was nothing but a literal _bucket _of failure, and so was he. Every single thing that was considered 'good' almost always happened to Krabs. On the rare occasion that they _would_ happen to Plankton, they were somehow snatched away from him, leaving him to wallow in misery. Squidward wasn't the only one who was mentally and physically tortured.

But through Karen's eyes (or her screen, rather), this was the last thing that she could take before losing herself in whatever emotions she had. And surprisingly, for a computer, she had _many. _

Not getting his way throughout the week meant that she had to be dragged down with him when it came to his low spirits. Like always, she gave him suggestions on different ways he could get the coveted recipe, but those suggestions were ignored.

And if that wasn't enough, she was treated no better than one of his useless experiments that were left in a forgotten junk box and labeled 'garbage.' Not only had he disregarded her presence and the other things she did for him countless times, but he had also screamed and yelled, viciously cursing at her to keep quiet while he busied himself with trying to finish each newest set of plans to sneak into the restaurant across the street.

It was as if they weren't even married. Or worse, it felt like she was one of those "worthless fools" in town that he always demanded that they get out of his way.

It felt like she didn't even know him anymore. And he couldn't care less.

That single tear that rolled down her screen while she silently witnessed their home getting destroyed was something that would sting her electronic memory for a long time. If computers had hearts, hers would be shattered and sprinkled into the blackest void.

It had been nearly ten hours since his Neptune-awful outburst, and Plankton lay back in his tiny recliner with a bloodshot eye and a can of kelp soda in his hand. The place around him was still in the same condition. Since he felt that he deserved to release such rage, he also felt that the mess was not his problem. If someone were to complain about it, that fool Krabs or his cheap computer wife could clean it up and repair things. After all, he was the one to cause his misery, and she only made it worse.

The scenes that rolled by in front of him on the giant screen helped numb his brain into mindlessness, making him relax and forget the events of the week.

"Boy," he said, watching a male fish throw balls of crumpled paper into a trashcan in his room. The fish's eyes were staring out into space, thus making him appear clueless to Plankton. "these actors only seem to look stupider with every new mind-control TV show they make… _why do I kind of like it?" _he dryly sipped from the can, discovering that it was empty. Looking down at it in a mixture of puzzlement and aggravation, he erroneously thought things were somehow still cordial.

"Karen, my can of kelp soda is empty! I need another one," he shouted, looking back at the screen.

The usual squeaky rolling of her wheels could not be heard.

Five seconds, ten seconds, _tick, tick, tick. _She wasn't there.

Plankton found his irritation levels rising in his bloodstream. If she didn't want them to boil over again, she needed to follow through with his order.

But it just wasn't going to happen.

"Hello?! Are you even _listening,_ computer wife?! Don't pretend you can't hear me!"

A few leaky pipes dripped, but still no squeaking.

"Ugh! Fine." Plankton jumped out of the chair, crushing the can and stomping on it. "what does a guy have to do to be _listened to _around here?"

This wasn't the first time today she hadn't answered him.

After stepping into his miniature kitchen and cracking open another soda to guzzle, he looked back at the television screen. A group of people was now inside the male fish's bedroom, all tossing pieces of paper into the trashcan like empty-headed fools.

Realizing that he_ didn't_ like such entertainment, after all, hejumped on top of the remote control, shutting off the power-sucker. "What am I doing drowning myself in such buffoonery? I'm gonna rot my brain right out of my skull with this garbage."

He seemed to have forgotten why the screen had also been glitching.

He tilted the can upward, gulping down every last drop of the bubbly liquid and wiping his mouth that was covered in 5'o clock shadow. He smacked his lips together, feeling contentment that quickly faded once he stared out into the messy, dank lifelessness of the laboratory. He knew it looked even worse outside in the restaurant itself.

Had he _really _been so animalistic to cause that kind of damage? To act like such a savage, treating everything as his ground to take things out on?

For a moment, regret took hold of him. And when that moment passed, it was still there. Was Krabs the one in the wrong here? All he was trying to do was protect his own livelihood from getting ruined by Plankton's selfishness. Sure, he was smugly satisfied with how easily he could defeat him and loved to see him miserable, but in a way, he had a right to act like that – as cruel as it was. After all, it was _his _secret formula.

Plankton's whole body cringed at those ridiculous thoughts that entered his head. He had had a long, rough week and was mentally exhausted. Whether or not he should feel sorry for what he did was something he tried to put in the back of his mind, but it didn't seem to want to stay there. He needed a good night of sleep after losing so many hours of it, working himself up over ingredients on a rolled-up sheet of paper in a bottle.

_Stupid Krabs… _he shook his head, trying to forget the remorse he felt for screaming so harshly at the crustacean earlier that day. _And stupid brain! Stop trying to make me feel guilty for what happened today. So what's the big deal? The Chum Bucket's been busted up a few times before… okay, maybe __**more**__ than a few, but whatever. It looks like I'm going to have to clean it up myself tomorrow since a certain computer spouse of mine wasn't in the mood to obey my commands today. _He sighed, holding onto his aching head as he approached the door. _I need to get some rest._

Unfortunately, that long-awaited rest was going to remain on hold when he went into that bedroom.

The Chum Bucket, secret formula, and Mr. Krabs were all about to be the very least of his worries.

"Alright, Karen, you know what time it is?" he asked sarcastically, using all his strength to push open the gargantuan door. "it's time for me to _thank you _for not listening to a _word _I've said all day, heh, heh," his chuckles were as arrogant as they were oddly playful. "isn't that nice of me, _honey_?" his voice trailed off into annoyance.

The door creaked loudly, allowing the pale-yellow light from the hallway to illuminate the room that was a chamber of darkness. From what Plankton could see, Karen had also neglected to fix his bed that had been sliced like a sandwich by the laser.

Light snoring could be heard, but when he shifted his eye to the left, he realized it was only Spot sitting in the corner, sound asleep.

"Jeez, it's dark in here," Plankton said, walking toward her bed and being careful not to trip over anything. "why aren't you doing your usual nightly scanning of your favorite book, Karen? Did you get bored with it already?"

He froze in mid-step.

Was that weeping he was hearing?

Karen would oftentimes cry. Whether it was due to a change in her settings, which resulted in mood swings, or Plankton upsetting her, she would shed real tears. And when she did, it typically would either get on Plankton's nerves, or it would make him realize that he had done something terribly wrong.

The latter was turning out to be the case this time, but it seemed to be affecting him differently and more deeply than it had in the past.

Usually, her tears were loud, whiny and just a plain burden on the ears. But now, they were almost too soft to be heard if there were any background noise to drown them out.

But as mellow as they were, they did not fail to grab onto a part of Plankton's heart that he didn't even know existed. The sorrowful waterdrops that escaped her screen were still painful to listen to, but not in the way that they always were.

"K-Karen?" Plankton's chest tightened up, and his knees suddenly felt like overcooked noodles. Though he had a bad feeling about what he was going to encounter when he hopped on top of her bed, that sense of curiosity was too strong to ignore.

"What's wrong, Karen? Did you hurt your wheels by rolling over something on the floor again or what?"

Taking a giant leap onto the mattress, the next thing he could make out was the faint green light cast upon the wall from her screen. The computer herself lay on her right side, her robotic hands shakily gripping a wet tissue. "N-no," she sniffled.

His pulse increased at a rate that could give him a heart attack, just from hearing the gut-wrenching sorrow in her quick, simple answer. In all their years of marriage, she had never sounded so beside herself.

Plankton swallowed hard, and his palms became moist with sweat. He couldn't have been the reason for her distraught tone, could he?

"Well, you certainly seem to be in pain of some sort." He jumped over to her side, grabbing on to the pull chain that turned on the lamp.

The sudden brightness was shocking to look at, especially for Plankton as he dangled from the chain. After groaning and rubbing his eye to adjust his vision, he could now see the spread-out pile of dirty tissues surrounding his wife.

He blinked, trying to comprehend what he was looking at. "Karen?"

"What do you want?" she flipped to her other side, her voice trembling.

"I just want to know what's wrong." Making it back onto the bed, he walked up behind her; his heart still racing. He was doing his best to remain calm and intended to handle this situation as carefully as he could, even though he wasn't typically good at such things since he wasn't an emotional person himself the majority of the time.

Karen wiped her wet screen with the already soaked tissue. "W-why are you even bothering to ask?"

"Because you're my wife, darn it! Can't a husband ask what's wrong anymore without his wife taking everything the wrong way?!" he raised his voice, causing the poor computer to sink even lower in her spirits.

Instead of making a retort like she normally would, she continued to cry. Heart-shattering sobs of hopelessness escaped her, as she gripped the pillow under her head. She shut her digital eyes tightly and displayed the saddest frown that, if Plankton were to see it, it would manage to cripple him.

That kind of response was the last thing he had expected from her. "U-uh…" he rubbed the back of his head. It was rare for the evil mastermind to become speechless, and even less to feel regret building inside of him. "I… I didn't mean to yell. I'm just exhausted, that's all."

It seemed, for the moment, she had nothing else to say. She only sniffled again.

A small smile came to Plankton, which was his own personal way of coming to the understanding that he had screwed up, though he was still trying to hold onto that bit of denial that he wasn't the reason for her heartbreak. "Aw, come on, Karen! You can't keep going on like this all night. Just tell me what's wrong! You've been in here all day and never said a word. Not only that, but you kept ignoring me every time I called for you, and it didn't take long for me to get tired of it."

"I'm tired too, Plankton," her whisper felt like a prick of the sharpest needle to his skin.

"Tired of _what_?"

"Tired of being unwanted and unloved."

Her words stung him to his very core. How could she think such things? Where had her mind gone to?

"What are you talking about?! 'Unwanted'? I'm the one who _bought you, _remember?"

"Oh, I remember…"

Plankton's eye followed her as she slowly rose upright, turning to him and revealing her despair.

A doohickey like that, being able to feel and express such raw, deep emotions was almost too intense for him to process. He had seen many people upset over his lifetime, including Mr. Krabs and Squidward crying in their kelp beer. And he thought that no one in the blue ocean could top the sadness that a certain yellow fry cook often exhibited, but even that was now unbelievably proven wrong.

None of their moments of gloominess could come anywhere close to the look on this contraption's screen.

"I also remember how you've made me feel this entire week."

All Plankton could do was stare with that big eye of his, caught completely off-guard and at a loss for words from hearing the wretched tone in her voice. He was unprepared what she was about to throw his way.

"You aren't the only one who's been ignored, Plankton. You're also not the only one who's been mentally drained of any hope in this life. All that I have done is… " she looked down at the blanket, a tear dripping and staining it. "is try and help you figure things out about that stupid secret formula. I tried to comfort you, gave you the best words of encouragement I could possibly calculate inside my system, I cooked you nice dinners, tried to give you kisses, told you not to give up, and what did you do in return?"

He shook his head. His mind had become blank, and his insides made him feel like he had been run over by a boat. His dark, green coloring was turning pale. "I-I-I— "

"You treated me like _garbage. _You made me feel like I had no reason to even exist anymore."

Plankton couldn't remember the last time he had felt so small.

"A-all you did was… yell your head off at me and call me names, and it made me feel like absolute junk! I felt _worthless! _And I still feel that way. You've been doing that to me all these years already, but this week was the worst it's ever been," her voice became weak like a thinning string but sharp like a blade. "and then you go and utterly _destroy _our home, just because you couldn't get your way like a selfish child."

"K-Karen, I— "

"And you don't even feel sorry about it!" she screamed, throwing her tissue as if she was slamming a 100-lb barbell to the ground. Her loudness awakened Spot from his slumber, causing him to hide under Plankton's sliced mattress. "you **never **feel sorry for anything! Y-you don't give a darn about me. I used to think that you did, but now I see that you never have."

Plankton's heart was ready to burst from the deafening pain that was gushing out of her like lava from a volcano. "Karen, t-that isn't true! Please, listen to me, I'm— "

"It is true!" she zoomed toward his face, flinging tears at him. "if you did give a darn…" her sobbing was slowly winding down to quiet weeping again, as she lowered herself back down onto the pillow. "you wouldn't have said the things you've said or done the things you've done."

As she turned on her side again and showed her back to him, Plankton couldn't stop his lips from quivering. His tough exterior was difficult to break, but the scene he had just witnessed was powerful enough to cut through it like that laser.

Karen knew he was coming closer behind her, and it only made the tears heat up and burn her more intensely. "All you care about is that lousy recipe. That's all you've _ever _cared about. You're _**obsessed **_with it."

Her last sentence was spat with so much repugnance, it made Plankton's earlier thunderstorm of anger seem like a tiny speck floating in outer space.

What made it even worse was that it was true.

"K-Karen, honey— "

"Don't you call me that. I'm sick of you saying things you don't even mean just to get on my good side." Her mechanical body was overflowing with woefulness. After so many years of his inconsiderate and nasty behavior, she wasn't sure if it was worth putting up with anymore.

"I can't say you're in love with the formula, because that would mean you'd have to have love in your heart. But you don't. You just… don't."

That was it for Plankton. He swore he could get through this like all the other times she was upset, but this wasn't one of her typical episodes. It was beyond serious at this point.

"S-sweetie," he crawled near the back of her head on his hands and knees, trying to hold back his emotions. "l-look, I-I understand I haven't exactly been the nicest person to you all this week over that secret formula, but… i-it's just that I've been after it for so many years and… and…"

The sobs she released into the pillow she held against her screen were agonizing for him to hear. More agonizing than her nagging ways, and the insults she always hurled back at him.

But most of all, as his thoughts dragged him deeper and deeper into the unforgivable mistakes he had made, he fully realized that the impossible had occurred: the fact that he had caused her so much misery was _more _painful than not getting that secret recipe.

It hit him fast and so hard.

Her pain was now his pain.

He had never experienced something so paralyzing.

"Karen, c-come on…" he latched onto her head, trying desperately to see what her expression was. "don't be like this. We can work this out, can't we? Just like we've done… all those other times before?"

Her crying ceased, alarming him.

He inhaled a sharp breath, hopping over her shoulder and facing her screen.

_**Mark III Surplus W.I.F.E. -O.M.A.T.I.C not responding… **_

"K-K-Karen?" he asked, his voice faltering and his antennae drooping.

Was this her version of the silent treatment?

_**Preparing for system shutdown.**_

His red eye shot all the way open at the monotone warning that suddenly came from her.

"What?! No… no! No, Karen! D-don't shut down! Wait!" he stepped forward, pressing his tiny palms against her screen.

"It could take forever to get you back up and running again. Don't do this, Karen! Karen, _please! _Look, I admit it, okay? I messed up; I _know _I messed up. I know I haven't been a good husband to you, a-and I know I've taken advantage of you, and I destroyed our restaurant, but it can all be fixed if you just give me another chance!"

The warning on her screen continued to show a symbol of buffering, which brought Plankton to the frightening edge of his mind; it was his choice whether he should jump off or not.

"Karen…" hot, stinging tears threatened to spill. "I-I don't even care about the secret formula anymore, honest!" his forced smile helped to encourage him to trace his hand across his chest in the shape of an 'X'. "cross my heart, I swear. That formula can get tossed into oblivion for all I care. I-I'll make it all up to you somehow, honey! I will. Just..."

Karen was unaware of how he squished himself against her, expressing his deeply buried affection. It was becoming increasingly difficult for him not to whimper as a result of his fears.

The biggest one being that he could lose her for a long period of time, or possibly for good.

His heart pounded achingly. Taking things for granted for so long had its consequences, and even though he hadn't been prepared to face them so soon, his conscience was finally catching up to him and he knew that he wanted to make things right.

"Please don't go, honey…" his breaths became labored. "Please…?"

A series of low beeping sounds made themselves known to his ears.

"Karen?" he lifted his head in hopefulness. But that hope was lost when he read the next message on the screen.

_**System shutdown… 95% complete. **_

A scared and curious Spot poked his head out from under the bed, watching his owner slam his forehead against Karen's monitor while he grunted in frustration, followed by him jumping up and down.

"Oh, barnacles!" he cursed, banging his fists against the glass. He had become hysterical and was unable to stop the heavy waterfall that finally spilled from his eye.

He couldn't let this happen.

"This just isn't fair! Karen, speak to me, please!"

_**System shutdown… 97% complete.**_

"NO!"

It was time for action.

Plankton ran as fast as his stumps could carry him. Entering the laboratory, it felt like he couldn't make it to the main screen quickly enough.

He jumped onto the keyboard, searching for the correct button to push to stop her from closing herself off from the world.

If he could hit the right one on time, it would be like he was reversing the damage that had been done.

_All _the damage. If Neptune would just let him start over.

But that was impossible now, as his jumbled thoughts just barely put themselves together like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.

The last thing he had taken his rage out on was the collection of numbers and letters he was staring down at. It was broken into millions of bits, and there was nothing he could do about it.

All the anger, the frustration, the name-calling, the disrespect, and the neglect – had it truly been worth it in the end, just because his schemes were faulty?

It wasn't. There was no secret recipe for sandwiches in his hands, and now he had driven away the one being in his life that actually gave a damn about him.

"Oh, no…" that rage was becoming half-twisted into deep regret. The part that was still angry was now directing itself at him.

He was the cause of all this.

One too many selfish moves and things were ruined.

_**System shutdown… 99% complete.**_

The message that appeared on the giant screen was the hook that caught the fish.

"No… no! This is all my fault. How could I have let this happen?" salty water dripped from his eye, as he sucked in harsh breaths.

Still standing at the edge of his mind, he decided it was time to jump. No matter how strange it sounded, or how bitter it tasted coming out, it needed to be said.

"Karen, I'm sorry! Can you hear me? I'm sorry!" he pounded his fists, rattling the bits of the keyboard. "I should've never taken you for granted and treated you so terribly, honeybunch. Please, come back to me, Karen! _Please! _I-I-I'll do whatever it takes to change my ways, okay? I mean it! Seriously, I mean it!"

His voice echoed out into the cold building. It was as if he was stranded in the middle of nowhere and could be heard by nothing but the black night sky; left helpless.

"Y-you're the best thing that's ever happened to me. I probably wouldn't even be alive if it wasn't for your help and support. I know I've been the biggest, most selfish jerk in the whole ocean and a horrible husband, and I'm sorry! Please, Karen… don't leave me…" he fell forward, his face landing on the sharp chunks of the keyboard. They scratched his skin and drew blood, but he didn't care anymore.

"I do have love in my heart... as hard as that is for someone as evil as me to admit, I do. I do love you, Karen… " he hissed from the swelling in his chest. "_I really do… _I'll always… love you. And I'll tell you that every single day because I mean it with all my heart. If you would just… come back to me, dear." His tears mixed with the noise of his profound sobbing.

It wasn't often that he meant what he said. But this was teaching him the valuable life lesson that words _did_ matter. And as he let go of his pride and allowed himself to feel things with his heart for once, he was grateful to learn such a lesson and fully accept it. It was just too bad that it had to happen at a time when he was beginning to despise himself more than his own enemies.

The warm moisture from his eye soaked into the open wires, sending a shock of electrocution through him.

"YOW! Stinking wires! Curse the incompatibility between tears and electricity!" he was blackened like a bug in a skillet.

He was in too much physical pain to notice the bright, new message that came on to the screen.

_**Canceling system shutdown. Restarting Mark III Surplus W.I.F.E. -O.M.A.T. I.C.**_

He lifted his head after a minute, wiping his wet face. "Oh, who am I kidding? I deserved that."

"You most certainly did."

Was he seeing and hearing things now, or was that computer standing on the other side of the room talking to him?

"Karen?" he rubbed his eye with his knuckles, then looked at her again in disbelief.

"Well, who else would it be? Another one of your wasted purchases? Oh, _wait… _on second thought, don't answer that," she sighed, shaking her head.

"Karen! OOF!" even as he fell off the keyboard and landed on the cold, hard floor, his soul was ecstatic, ready to jump all the way to the flowery clouds at the sight of his beloved wife standing right across the way.

"Oh, Karen!" he gushed, springing from the floor and swinging around on her metal body.

Karen looked down at the unusually happy, small man. It was amazing to see how a person could flip so quickly just from the fear of losing someone. It was a rare sight to behold; he appeared more genuine in his gratitude than he ever had.

"Karen, honey, listen." Plankton looked up at her with a watery eye, getting on the floor and sinking to one knee. "I'm so sorry for the way things have been. I admit I've been a horrible husband and treated you so unfairly over the years. I know I've been a jerk. And I've caused you so much grief. But I'm sorry, I really am sorry."

"I kn— "

"WAIT! Let me finish. I haven't been just a jerk – I've been the biggest, most selfish jerk in the whole entire ocean."

Karen wanted to inform him that his words didn't need repeating because she had heard most of them minutes before. But it was easy for her to admit that hearing him trash himself was very satisfying. Not to mention sweet.

"But I'll do whatever it takes to make it up to you, honey. I-I'll do anything to prove…" he blinked, letting another tear fall. "that I love you. I'll even stop going after the secret formula. I don't even_ care _about it anymore – I just care about you. I love you, Karen. I really do. Can you forgive me?"

The look on his face and the way he spoke touched her in ways she never thought possible. It seemed that he meant what he said… for the most part. But there was a part of her that was still skeptical about it.

"I do, Plankton. I do," she sniffled, beginning to cry once more. "that's all I really wanted to hear from you. But do you _really _mean it that you're done with that formula?"

"You bet your nuts and bolts I mean it, Karen. From now on, I'm making an honest living. No more scheming and no more thieving."

Just then, the sound of pleasant whistling from outside caught his attention. Following him into the restaurant, Karen watched as he hopped up on a table and pulled down his binoculars that were attached to the large one that allowed him to see outside. It didn't take long for an idea to pop into his head when he saw Sandy Cheeks taking her evening stroll.

"Hmm, hmmm, hmm, hmm, hmm, Flip-a-dee-do-dah," Sandy joyfully hummed, just as she passed the Chum Bucket. "Boy, there ain't nothin' like a refreshin' walk in the ocean at night to clear a critter's head— w-what in tarnation?!"

A huge robotic hand pushed itself out of the roof and plucked the pink flower right off her bubble helmet.

"Here you are, dear! Freshly picked," said Plankton, giving Karen the flower after he retrieved it from the hand.

Karen stared down at it with a blank screen. "Hm, no more _thieving, _eh?"

"Well…" Plankton shrugged, smiling sheepishly. "I'm a work-in-progress."

Looking at the insufferable little bug, Karen knew, in truth, that she wouldn't have things any other way. "Yes…" she picked him up in the palm of her hand. "but you're also _my _work-in-progress."

Hearing her heartfelt words brought warmth to him. "I love you, sweetie. I really, really do."

Turning her blank screen to a loving smile, her eyes beamed. "I love you too, darling."

She lifted him to her screen, showing a pair of pursed lips. Plankton stood on his tiptoes, leaned forward and kissed her with passion. He was determined to prove to her how much she really meant to him.

"Say cheese!"

A flash of light showed through one of the broken windows, and loud giggles erupted.

"What the?!" Plankton exclaimed, turning around to look where his wife was looking.

There stood Mr. Krabs, SpongeBob, Patrick, and Sandy at the window, all smiling devilishly. Mr. Krabs held a shell camera, where a piece of paper shot out from. "This will sell like Krabby Patties once it gets its spot in the mornin' paper! Arg arg arg arg arg!" he laughed, allowing the married couple to see the photographic evidence of their smooch. "this is what ye get for screamin' and hollerin' at me to give ye _my _recipe."

"Aw, cute!" said SpongeBob, slapping his palms against his cheeks.

"Yessiree! That's what I call the perfect revenge for stealin' my flower!" said Sandy.

"Ah, ha, ha, ha, ha! Yeah! We used an optical instrument!"

Everyone turned and stared at Patrick strangely. "What?" he asked.

Black smoke rose from the top of Plankton's head. "I'll show you an optical instrument!" he jumped from Karen's palm and picked up his handy one-eyed goggle that shot a laser, strapping it to his face. "And just for that, I'm gonna try _ten times harder _to get that formula! Mwhahaha!" he cackled as a red beam blasted from the device and through the window, causing the others to run away and scream.

Plankton turned back around to see a computer on the verge of losing her patience; her arms crossed over her chest and a digital eyebrow raised. She knew she had a reason to still be skeptical.

"Heh, heh…" he pulled the goggle off and tossed it aside. "Work-in-progress, Karen. Work-in-progress."

* * *

**A/N: Alrighty, that's it, guys! Thank you so much for reading. I really appreciate it. I hope you thought it was okay. If not, well, I'm sorry and I'll try to do better next time. :P See you again soon.**


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